


Anywhere I Go There You Are

by FrazzledSquidz



Series: Junior Year [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Character Study, Extroversion, Fluff, Introspection, Introversion, M/M, Mentions of the past, Other, but they work so well together, mentions of bullying, sex positive jug, talk of masturbation, they're so different
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 21:09:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11517522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrazzledSquidz/pseuds/FrazzledSquidz
Summary: Jughead needs some space, Archie copes with it in his own way.





	1. Jughead

**Author's Note:**

> “ _You've got my heartstrings._  
>  Well ain't that something?  
>  _But your love won't change me..._  
>  Well I think that's lovely.  
>  _And if the roof leaks?_  
>  We'll think of something.  
>  _What if your heart leaves?_  
>  You're coming with me.  
>  _I think you’re lovely..._  
>  I think you love me.”  
> -Lovely by Miner

Jughead just needed space sometimes. Okay, most of the time. He didn't know if it was a byproduct of growing up in a two-bedroom trailer with four people or just his nature, but regardless he needed a lot of time alone. There was so much going on in his head all the time, and with other people always around sometimes things just got too… loud. 

He knew Archie had a hard time understanding it, as he was someone who naturally gravitated towards people and needed their energy to burn off some of his own. But Archie had always been the golden child; someone who people wanted to be around and nourish. Jughead had been the opposite: a dark and brooding kid with too much going on at home and relentless bullying happening at school. Both came with their unique sets of challenges, because Jughead knew where he often felt like an alien specimen waiting to be examined Archie felt smothered from the weight of too many expectations on his shoulders. 

Betty had the same thing, which was why she and Archie had always gotten along so well. They knew how to curb their expectations of each other and just exist in the same space. 

Jughead's foster parents were out for the weekend and into most of the week, leaving Jughead free reign of the house. They had two kids of their own, a boy and a girl, who were already adults off in the world with their own kids. The foster parents, Alicia and Robert, had told Jughead that they missed having a kid around the house, but let him set the ground rules. They'd had other teenage foster kids before and they’d learned quickly that the best thing they could offer was a bed, some food, and the level of attention the child wanted: space or rules, an absent parent or a helicopter one. Jughead was curious about how their own children had turned out, but not enough to ask them.

Alicia and Robert lived in a two-story house on the Southside, just a few streets from where the Jones’ trailer used to sit. It was small, but homey. It had clearly been lived in for a long time by people who were content to stay and didn't want for much. That's how Jughead saw Alicia and Robert as well: simple, quiet, not prone to complaining or drama. Maybe a little on the stupid side, but it could be a lot worse. They’d saved up some checks from Social Services and had offered to take Jughead on a trip. When he'd politely refused, they went by themselves, leaving him the house keys and a fridge full of food. Even though he’d technically been living there for over half a year, it still felt like he was given complete access to a stranger’s house. That level of trust was both bewildering and humbling. 

Jughead sat curled up in the corner of their worn red couch, sunk into the comfort of happily-used furniture. He gazed absently around the room, eyes catching briefly on pictures and memorabilia as his mind wandered. The house hummed with electronics and AC, creaking every so often as if to remind him of the strong frame that surrounded him. Sometimes he just needed this; a quiet moment. No books, movies, or music. No writing. Just time to sit and let his mind meander as it pleased. 

Archie was working with his dad today, though he'd probably been home for a few hours by now. Jughead had texted him that morning right away and told him he wasn't feeling social, but would try to meet up with him later. Sometimes he just woke up and immediately knew he would be better off not being around people that day. Sometimes he didn't want to talk but was okay just laying around with Archie, but sometimes there were the days where Jughead needed to be alone. Where he needed to exist in a space without eyes on him. Where he could finally let everything that lay so tightly curled in his mind relax and unleash.

Sometimes those things were good, sometimes they weren't, but sometimes it was like today and they all seemed disconnected from Jughead, like he was watching a movie and had no personal affiliation to anything that was going on. It felt good, though. Like stretching out a muscle he hadn't paid attention to in awhile.

Jughead had been this way for as long as he could remember, and had become adept at carving out hiding places for himself when he needed to escape. He was still looking for a place in town after the loss of the drive-in, but hadn't found anything as good yet. He had told the other theater that he would work for them as soon as the college kids left their summer employment and went back to their coastal schools, but he still had a few weeks to wait before he could expect a call. Hopefully he could find a quiet corner there, someplace to hide out where no one could find him.

His savings was nearly dried up from being unemployed for so many months and his road trip with Archie, but he couldn't regret the latter. Jughead and Archie had spent a week driving along rural roads, eating at small local restaurants, and then pitching their tent whenever they needed to stop for the night. It was laid-back, with no plans other than just to drive around and see what was out there. 

Jughead hadn't had any idea there were so many stars, or that they could see the edge of their own galaxy just by laying outside away from city lights. 

“They make me feel so small,” Archie had confided quietly, as they'd lain next to each other gazing upwards. 

The sight had made Jughead feel small, too, but in a comforting way. Like, if there were so many potential planets and galaxies and universes out there, his own life really didn't mean that much. Maybe he didn't have to try so hard all the time. 

“Imagine all the stories out there,” Jughead had whispered to Archie that night. “Everything the stars have seen.” 

Archie had reached down, tangling their fingers together. “Figures you’d be optimistic about the one thing I'm pessimistic about.”

A grin had stretched across Jughead's face, hidden in the dark. “Look at you using your big boy words.”

Archie had snorted. “Jug, if I had a dollar for every time you called me a ‘hopeless optimist’ I could keep you fed at Pop's the rest of our lives.” 

“You romantic,” Jughead had teased flatly, happiness swelling inside his chest despite his words as he'd rolled over and buried his face into Archie's shoulder. “I know your evil plan: fatten me up so I can never leave the house while you swan around all Greek god-like.” 

Laughter had made Archie's whole body shake, jostling them against each other. “Now I'm just imagining you fat!” he'd howled. “Like, so fat your beanie wouldn't fit!”

“That is not how that works, Andrews!” Jughead had retorted, trying to keep his amusement from lacing his tone without success. He'd chewed lightly on Archie's shoulder through the fabric of his t-shirt for his insolence. Laughing, Archie had retaliated by flipping onto his side and pinching at Jughead's tender sides, making him yelp loudly. 

_I wonder what the stars would think of us idiots,_ he'd thought as they'd wrestled, laughter permeating the still night air. 

Jughead's mind lingered on Archie, as it so often did. He really couldn't believe that they, as a couple, were working so well together. If he was completely honest with himself, he'd thought that Archie would split after a couple of weeks, realizing that his relationship with Jughead, like with Betty, was better spent platonically. 

And yet, he'd stayed. Through Jughead's sporadic fits of self-loathing and low self-esteem, where he would try to push Archie as far away from him as he could get, the other boy had stayed. Through Jughead's silences, self-imposed isolation, and bad days where his pessimism threatened to drown him… Archie had stayed. 

And even better, Archie hadn't tried to change him at all. He teased Jughead, but he didn't tell him to lighten up or stay positive or any of those bullshit platitudes. There had been this one time, back in middle school, where Archie had begged Jughead to try and be “normal,” telling him that his life would be easier and he wouldn't get bullied so much if he wasn't such a weirdo.

But Jughead didn't know how to be normal, how to act like anything other than himself. And he'd flat-out told Archie that if he couldn't handle it then he didn't have to stick around, sullying his Good Boy Reputation with a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. They hadn't spoken for almost a month, but they'd eventually found their way back to each other, scowling and flustered that they didn't seem to know how to function without the friendship that had run alongside most of their lives. 

It had taken a long time to return to normalcy, but they didn't know how _not_ to advocate for each other. Archie didn't know how to stand up for himself and talk back when adults asked too much of him and Jughead lacked the physical prowess to fight his bullies, though neither boy lacked in spirit. That was the foundation of their friendship: standing up for each other when the rest of the world got too close, asked for too much, wanted them to be something they weren't. Jughead had his brain and a razor sharp tongue while Archie had his golden heart and his fists, and somehow they worked together.

 _He deserves better than me,_ came the thought, unbidden, rising like black tar in the back of his mind. But on its heels, _Let Archie decide for himself. He's smarter than he looks._

Jughead smirked to himself and unfolded from his couch corner, heading into the room he occupied whenever he slept in this house. Reaching under his pillow, he grabbed his phone and found a single missed text.

**jsyk im off work. miss u but lmk when ur ready.**

Fondness rose in his chest again, as it so often did when it came to Archie. A part of Jughead hated himself for it, but a larger part really didn't, at all. He thumbed a quick text back. 

**Hey.**


	2. Archie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Well you were a magazine, I was a Plain Jane,_  
>  _Just walking the sidewalks all covered in rain._  
>  _Love to just get into some of your stories,_  
>  _Me and all of my Plain Jane glory.”_  
>  Big Black Car by Gregory Alan Isakov

Archie sighed loudly as he finished off the last of his water, letting a few drops trail down his chin and fall onto his shirt. He was filthy and overheated anyway from working with his dad all day; he couldn’t wait to crawl into the shower as soon as he got home. Hopefully he’d get to see Jug afterwards, but he was having one of his “Extreme Introvert Days,” as Ronnie called them. 

Even though Archie hadn’t planned on working for his dad again after last summer, that’d been before his dad had been shot. Though it had been six months, it still pained Fred from time to time so Archie made sure he was around to help out as much as he could. He loved music, but his dad was more important. That fact had been easy to overlook once, but between Fred’s injury and Jug’s dad in prison he wasn’t likely to forget it again anytime soon. 

“Arch!” his dad called from the driver's side of his truck. “Let's go; I'm starving.” 

They grabbed a take-out dinner from Pop's and Archie showered first while his dad ate. He kept the shower cool because he still felt like his skin was burning from his day under the sun, but not cold enough that he couldn't rub one out thinking of Jughead. 

Masturbating to his asexual boyfriend sometimes made him feel guilty, even though he’d told Jug when they’d started dating and the other boy had managed to look both confused and flattered at the same time. Jug had told Archie that he got “in the mood” about once every month or so, and Archie had even gotten to jack him off once while they were camping, which still fueled his fantasies. Jughead deigned to touch Archie approximately once every two weeks (sometimes more, sometimes less) and Archie was stuck between feeling crazy for more of Jug while also being intensely satisfied with what his boyfriend decided to share with him.

Archie had gotten to see Jug climax twice during their relationship (once from his own hand and once from Archie's) and both times he'd gasped like all the air had been punched from his lungs, his face slack with shock, like he didn't know the pleasure his own body was capable of. It was that face Archie pictured now that brought him over the edge, leaving him panting into his palm as the lukewarm water poured down his back.

After dressing, Archie went downstairs and traded places with his dad, tucking into his chicken sandwich hungrily as the older man disappeared into his room to shower. He pulled out his cell phone and opened up his messages to text Jug, belatedly remembering the other boy’s request for isolation that day. Archie sighed, letting his phone drop back down on the table, feeling restless even though it had been such a satisfying day overall.

But on the inside cover of his notebook, where he jotted down songs and pieces of lyrics and some ideas, he'd written down, _Don't be selfish._ It felt burned in the back of his eyelids sometimes, as often as Archie thought of those words and tried to be better. (A better son, friend, boyfriend, football player, musician, student, man…) As desperately as he wanted to talk to Jug, Archie knew he needed time and space to himself, and it had nothing to do with Archie or their relationship. Probably. 

Archie listlessly unlocked his phone and opened up his chat with Jug, scrolling up a few pages to reread old texts. 

**jug im bored**

**You could occupy your time with learning the English language. You know, as a native speaker and all.**

**Are you in Algebra?**

**yup. v says hi. pops 2nite?**

**Is that really a question? Of course Pop's tonight. Stop texting me and learn something.**

**ur texting back. hypocrite**

**I'm in study hall. I could either text you or contemplate slitting my own wrists.**

**Just kidding. I'm already dead. My ghost is texting you.**

**i dont think u could text as a ghost**

**Shows what you know. Stop trying to control my after-life!**

Archie found himself grinning at his phone, at what an ass Jug could be. They'd met up at Pop's that night after school. Archie had spent most of his time talking music with Ronnie while Jughead and Betty were troubleshooting Southside High's newspaper. Well, the one Betty wanted Jug to start and the one Jug wanted Betty to talk him into starting. 

That had been at the end of the school year, just as they were figuring out their rhythm as a couple. Archie scrolled mindlessly for a minute, but accidentally hit something that made his phone jump down to the most recent text, from early this morning.

**Hey Arch. Need some space today. I'll try to text you later.**

Jughead's foster parents were gone on some trip for most of the week, so Jug had stayed at their place last night to reassure them that he would keep an eye on their house. Archie had missed him and had been looking forward to spending tonight with him but…

Archie had tried to quell his disappointment as he'd read Jughead's text that morning. _Don't be selfish._ He knew Jug needed room sometimes. He had that brain that was too big to share a space with, overflowing with stories. And Archie had to work most of the day anyway. It was fine. 

Archie heard the shower downstairs shut off as he finished the last of his food. He thumbed a quick text to Jug. 

**jsyk im off work. miss u but lmk when ur ready.**

Maybe he could get some writing done this evening. Or something. His life orbited around his friends, and often he didn’t know what to do when they were busy. Archie supposed he could text Betty and Ronnie to see what they were up to, but he didn’t want to miss when Jug made contact, if he decided to that day. 

With a sigh, Archie dumped his trash and headed upstairs to find something to occupy his mind.  
\--

Archie inhaled through his nose sharply as he woke up from his nap. No, something woke him up. He rolled over, frowning blearily around his room, only to find Jughead at the door. 

“Well if it isn't Sleeping Beauty,” Jughead smirked, leaning casually against the door frame.

“S'it still Saturday?” Archie slurred, stumbling to his feet. He must've slept way longer than he'd meant to. 

“All day, buddy.” Jughead's voice was dry, but terribly fond at the same time, and he opened up his arms as Archie all but fell into them.

He mumbled into the warm skin of Jughead's neck, lips resting on the collar of his shirt, as Archie hugged him tightly. “Oh good. S’hoping I wouldn't miss you today.” 

Jughead ran his slender palms around Archie's shoulders and back, making him feel sleepy all over again. “You crash out, Andrews? You're usually so perky in the morning.”

“S'not morning.”

“Hmm, you're right, for once. Come on, you big lug.” 

But Archie refused to let go of him, so they stumbled and tripped their way over to the bed until Archie was close enough to fall back on it, pulling Jughead down with him. They shifted, Jug complaining the whole time, until Archie was all the way on the bed and Jughead was sprawled across his chest, one elbow by Archie's head propping him up and one leg between the ginger’s. 

“Seriously,” Jughead huffed, the fingers of his left hand smoothing over Archie's collarbone with absentminded affection.

“Hi.” He grinned at Jug, unrepentant, as one hand slid up between his shoulder blades and the other carded through Jug’s hair, casually pushing his beanie back. “You okay?” 

Jughead nodded easily. “Yeah, fine.”

“Wait- I know this one! ‘Freaked-out, insecure, neurotic, and…’ And…”

Jug grinned at him, obviously delighted. “So close, Andrews. ‘Emotional.’”

“Damn!” Archie lifted his head enough to thump it back on his pillow. “Well, do I get a prize for getting most of it?” he asked, smiling in what he hoped was a charming manner.

Jug tsked at him. “There are no participation awards in this relationship, thank you very much. But if you can name the movie then I suppose I could reward you.”

“The Italian Job!” Archie replied immediately, bringing the hand that was in Jughead's hair around to cup his jaw, drawing him closer.

“But…?” Jug prompted, giving the gentlest of bites to Archie's bottom lip. 

“But not the original one,” Archie murmured dutifully, deepening their kiss and shivering as Jughead's tongue slipped in his mouth. 

As he felt Jughead's hand slip into his hair, tugging gently at the roots, Archie's chest filled with a kind of childish joy. Every time Jug came back to him he felt the same sense of giddy relief and devotion, as well as touched that Jug thought he was worth returning to. Archie was under no delusions; he knew he was the boring one in their relationship. He probably couldn't be more stereotypical if he tried, such an All-American Boy, except for the fact that he had an ace boyfriend that he was overwhelmingly happy with. But Jughead chose him, again and again, day after day. It was earth-shattering, when Archie really thought about it. 

“I texted you,” Jug murmured, pressing a sweet kiss against the side of Archie's mouth. “When you didn't respond after awhile I just decided to come over.”

“I'm glad you did.” Archie smiled, tipping his head up and bumping their noses together gently, making Jughead wrinkle his. “You gonna stay tonight?”

Jughead sighed deeply, sounding very put-upon. “I’m just not sure…”

Archie hummed, then deftly flipped them over so he was effectively pinning Jug against the mattress with his body lined up alongside the other boy’s. He rested his head on Jug’s chest, wrapping both his arms under his waist to hug him closely. “Now you're trapped.”

Both of Jughead's hands came up to card through his hair, gentle as a breeze. “Guess I am,” he muttered, not sounding too aggrieved by the idea. “Too bad for you.”

“Yeah. It's such a hardship.” Archie pressed a kiss to Jug's chest, through his shirt. “Guess we're stuck together.”

He could hear the smile in Jughead's voice as he replied, “Like the pages in a porn magazine.” 

Archie tried to smother his sudden, loud laughter against Jug's skin. Oh how he'd missed this boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Since we met I feel a lightness in my step_  
>  _You’re miles away but I still feel you_  
>  _Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)_  
>  _Anywhere I go there you are_  
>  Fire and Flood by Vance Joy


End file.
